Members observed a one minute silence in memory of those who had lost their lives in the terrorist attack in London the day before.

To receive any apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Rankin and Councillor Jones.

To receive any declarations of interest

Councillor Dudley declared a personal interest in the item ‘Forest Bridge School’ as he was a founder and former governor at the school. For transparency, he left the room for the duration of the discussion and voting on the item.

To consider the Part I minutes of the meeting held on 23 February 2017

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Part I minutes of the meeting held on 23 February 2017 be approved.

None

To consider the Forward Plan for the period April to July 2017

Cabinet considered the contents of the Forward Plan for the next four months and noted the changes that had been made to the plan since the last meeting. In addition it was noted that:

·         The item ‘School Meals Catering Contract’ would be presented to Cabinet in April 2017.

·         The item ‘Response to DfT Consultation on a Third Runway’ would be presented to Cabinet in April 2017.

·         The item ‘Windsor Coach Park / Alexandra Gardens / Riverside Area Project - Feasibility Work’ would be presented to the Cabinet Regeneration Sub Committee on 2 May 2017.

·         The item ‘Public House Article 4 Directions’ would be presented to Cabinet in May 2017.

·         The item ‘Joint Minerals and Waste Local Plan – Issues and Options Consultation’ would presented to Cabinet on 25 May 2017

Members considered details of progress that had been made against the Council’s 137 manifesto commitments. The Deputy Lead Member highlighted that 20% of commitments had already been met, a 5% increase since the last report. A further 77% were on target to be delivered by April 2019.

Cabinet was addressed by Margaret Morgan. Ms Morgan referred to Manifesto Commitment (08.05):

‘Further enhance our parks and open spaces through drinking fountains and other fountains / water feature’

The expected outcome was ‘Three more water fountains and 2 public fountains installed by September 2017’ and that the Previous Significant Next Action (SNA) was ‘Consultation on Commonwealth fountain options (Ongoing).’ Ms Morgan asked what were the options and where were they to be located?

The Lead Member for Culture and Communities explained that two drinking fountains had been installed at Oaken Grove and Datchet Riverside. The council was looking for a third site. A fountain had been installed on Clarence roundabout and another was being put in at Oaken Grove. Following internal consultation with the Mayor who had originally put forward the idea, it had been decided not to pursue the Commonwealth fountain. The Chairman suggested the fountain was a good idea and asked for more work to be undertaken on the idea. Ms Morgan commented that if the idea were to be pursued, improved consultation would be important. Simply advertising in a local newspaper was not sufficient. Funding also needed to be appropriate in times of austerity.

The Lead Member for Culture and Communities highlighted increased services in libraries. The Lead Member for Customer and Business Services explained that six processes under Channel Shift had been released, with a further eight to be available by the end of April 2017. The website had been completely revamped and residents were using the new digital services.

The Lead Member for Children’s Services explained that the commitment to reward teachers was amber, following feedback from headteachers that they would prefer to recognise teams or departments. The scheme was therefore under review. The council was also collaborating with WAM Get Involved to highlight opportunities to volunteer in schools. In relation to the commitment to increase promote school choice, the letters expressing local interest in pursuing selective education had been published on the borough website. The national responses were due in June 2017.

The Lead Member for Finance highlighted that core council tax had been increased by broadly half the inflation level and the Medium Term Financial Plan indicated there was a reasonable expectation this commitment could continue to be met. Fees and charges increases had been kept at or below inflation unless there had been a specific reason identified by officers, for example changes by neighbouring boroughs. The council had also increased funding for voluntary organisations, therefore a larger number of organisations had benefitted. The council continued to support the Berkshire Credit union. The council had a strong record in successfully pursuing benefit fraud.

The Lead Member for Highways and Transport explained that in planning  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6a

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the order of business as detailed in the agenda, be amended.

Councillor Dudley left the room for the duration of the discussion and voting on the item. Councillor Coppinger assumed the Chair for the item.

Members considered Heads of Terms arrangements alongside the timetable for signing the lease of the site with the Education Funding agency (EFA) by 24 March 2017. 

Cabinet was addressed by Jo Haswell, Vice Chair of Governors at Forest Bridge School. Ms Haswell explained that Forest Bridge was a special school set up by a group of parents with children on the autism spectrum. The school provided a unique blend of therapies and education. Currently 58 pupils were on roll. The school was currently located in the old Oldfield School site on Chiltern Road but had reached capacity. There was a waiting list showing demand from both inside and outside of the borough.  An expert in applied behavioural analysis from California University had recently visited and said the school was a centre of excellence. The school wanted to move to a permanent home to enable an increase of 40 additional places. She requested the support of the council in leasing the proposed land to the school.

The Lead Member explained that the council had worked with the EFA to find a suitable site; over 30 had been considered. A parcel of land in Braywick Park had been identified as the most suitable option. If the Heads of Terms were signed with the EFA, the planning process would still need to run its course.

The Lead Member for Culture and Communities explained that the current leases on the land with the Maidenhead Shooting Club and the driving range were both due to come to an end in the next few months. A potential new site for the shooting club had been identified. The council was talking to Braywick Nurseries to adjust their boundary to allow the school to access the site. The plan was also to share outdoor and sports facilities with the school.

The Lead Member for Planning commented that as ward Councillor he was supportive of the proposal, without committing himself to the planning elements. Given the anticipated increase in demand for primary places, he was pleased that the council would retain the Chiltern Road site for educational purposes once Forest Bridge vacated the site.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinet:

i)          Note the Heads of Terms agreed with the Education Funding Agency, see Appendix A, which enables them to submit a planning application for Forest Bridge School to relocate into a new building in Braywick Park.

ii)         Delegate to the Strategic Director of Corporate and Community Services to agree an extension of the current lease for Forest Bridge School to remain in the Chiltern Road site for a third year.

Councillor Dudley re-joined the meeting at 8.25pm

Members considered the latest financial update.

Cabinet was addressed by Mark Newcombe, Chair of the Craufurd Arms Society Ltd and CAMRA Public Protection Officer for Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead. Mr Newcombe explained that the Craufurd Arms had been listed as an asset of community value in 2015 therefore a 6 month hold had been put on its sale, enabling the community society to raise funds though share ownership. In total 193 investors had raised £310,000 alongside a grant of £30,000 and a £70,000 loan. Nearly all supporters were local who wanted to save the last pub in north Maidenhead. A loan of £65,000 would help to cover the VAT on the purchase price; Mr Newcombe confirmed this was the value being requested despite an increased bid. He thanked councillors and officers who had supported the proposal despite limited legislation to protect pubs.

The Chairman commented that the society was a shining example of when a community mobilised to create positive action. He offered to provide the society with a letter from the council to the current owners, and facilitate a similar letter from the constituency MP. He highlighted that a report would be coming to Cabinet in May to look at options for Article 4 directions to remove permitted development rights on pubs.

The Lead Member introduced the report. He explained that it included a proposal to increase fostering care allowances in line with the announcement by the government to raise national rates.

Members noted that an underspend of £0.5m was now predicted, with all Directorates contributing for the first time. This would leave reserves at £6.4m, well above the budget target figure of £5.3m. The Adults, Children and Health directorate was predicting an underspend of £31,000 on a budget of £57.5m. The Lead Member commented that this should be applauded given that a single individual case with high care needs could cost up to £100,000. The Corporate and Community Services directorate predicted an underspend of £64,000 against a budget of £4.3m, despite significant planning pressures. The Operations and Customer Services directorate predicted an underspend of £428,000 against a budget of £2.6m.

Capital slippage amounted to £13m. This had increased from £10m when the budget was presented, not due to delays but the fact that funding was often applied for in one year with expenditure anticipated over a number of years.

Members noted the cash flow projection on page 155 of the report. Debt was set to rise to fund the priority tactical investment programme in the range of £73m for regeneration, school expansion and the plans for York House.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinet:

i)              Notes the Council’s projected outturn position

ii)            Approves the Foster Care allowances contained in paragraph 4.4 and Table 2. 

iii)           Approves a £65,000 loan the Crauford Arms Society Ltd. repayable after three months at a rate of 5% p.a. The loan would be secured on the Crauford Arms pub should the Society be successful in purchasing it. Details in paragraph 4.17.

iv)          Approves the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6h

Members considered a review of the standards and quality of education in the borough for the academic year 2015/16.

The Lead Member explained the report was being presented to Cabinet in March as the data was only verified by the DfE in January 2017. The report demonstrated that overall there was a high level of achievement by pupils, particularly at KS2. However, pupils in recent of pupil premium did not do so well. Since the last report in March 2016, two of the five outcomes had been met. Every school now had a published pupil premium plan and the KS4 attainment gap had improved. Unfortunately the gap had increased at KS2. Less Ofsted inspections had taken place than expected; 83% were Good or Outstanding against a target of 85%. Students going on to a top third university fell from 21% to 19% and only 2% of students from a further education college achieved this target.

Members noted that the borough outperformed the national average at all Key Stages and ranked in the top 20% of 150 authorities. KS2 had moved from 44^th to 24^th in the country. The borough was committed to ensuring all pupils had the best life choices. Analysis was underway to determine why pupils from a black or Pakistani background did not do so well and how they could be supported. There had been limited opportunities for Ofsted judgements as five schools had become Academies, which delayed inspections.  Many were Good or Outstanding and therefore were not due for inspection for some time. The measure would be changed in future to reflect these aspects.

Members noted the content of chart 1, including the gap in attainment at early years that narrowed by the time it got to KS4. The cohort of pupil premium pupils at Early Years stage was small. Appendices B and C detailed plans to improve outcomes. Paragraph 2.21 demonstrated the increase in permanent exclusions in the borough; nationally 7 out of 10 had special educational needs. The council was working to ensure all pupils had the right opportunities and access to education. This included a review of the Fair Access Panel with proposals to introduce an independent chairman and recorded votes for each case.

The Lead Member explained that government statistics had registered 2.3% of the cohort as NEETs, however when data collection fell to schools this increased to 47.4% unrecorded. Work was underway to reduce the number of unknown students.

The Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Panel had highlighted the role of all Members as Corporate Parents.

The Deputy Lead Member for School Improvement commented that the School Improvement Forum was focussing on disadvantaged children. It was important to understand why certain groups did not do so well. The cohort was small in a relatively wealthy borough; only 1000 pupils were eligible for free schools meals out of a school population of 20,000. This equated to 6% compared to a national average of 26%. However there were other authorities of a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6b

Members considered the proposal for a shared Emergency Planning service for Berkshire.

The Lead Member explained that the council had a number of factors and high profile locations that influenced its Emergency Planning risk profile:

·           Fluvial Flood Risk from River Thames and tributaries

·           Crowded Spaces - Significant National and Regional Tourism Sites

·           Ministry of Defence facilities

·           Transportation - Heathrow Flight Paths, Motorway network

·           VIP presence - Royal Household, Eton College

·           Public Events - Ascot Racecourse, Horse Show

Members noted that the current Berkshire Emergency Planning model was introduced in 1998 and was based on each unitary authority employing dedicated resource with informal joint working arrangements across a range of shared activities. Resourcing levels for the six services had changed in each authority.  There was now interest in a shared service.

A recent review had highlighted a number of issues with existing arrangements, for instance:

·      A lack of resilience in each authority due to a reliance on one or two key individuals, with vulnerabilities identified where vacancies or prolonged periods of absence occurred.

·      No consistent approach and therefore on occasion duplicate work, wasted resource so inefficient use of resource

·      Disparity in the resourcing of Emergency Planning between the councils, resulting in the cost of multi-agency work being funded inequitably.

·      A lack of career structure/personal development framework with opportunities for succession planning to aid retention.

·      Multiple points of contact for communication with partner agencies.

The review concluded that the Emergency Planning services had demonstrated a high level of professionalism and some joint working.  However, the operating framework established in 1998 was no longer effective or sustainable. 

A team of five FTE was proposed.  This would comprise two teams of two FTE with each team covering one of two regions, Berkshire West and Berkshire East.  An Emergency Planning Team Manager would be based in the Lead Authority with the two operational teams working across the six authorities. The Lead Authority would be West Berkshire, which had a higher profile than the Royal Borough due to the location of the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment.

There were six critical success factors determined for the proposal: Enhanced resilience, enhanced effectiveness, strengthened mutual aid arrangements, no increase in costs, a local presence and an enhanced working relationship with Thames Valley Local Resilience Forum.

There were a number of day to day operations that crossed over with the Emergency Planning function that would need support and input from any proposed shared service, for example the Safety Advisory Group and Ceremonial Events Group.  These functions would be satisfactorily covered within the agreement entered.  In additional the proposed Emergency Planning model incorporated Business Community Planning, supporting council service areas in developing robust continuity plans. 

The new team would coordinate out of hours arrangements for Emergency Planning.  This was currently shared across Heads of Service and Service Leads in the Operations and Customer Services Directorate.  The arrangement would mean that qualified Emergency Planning personnel would provide out of hours cover going forward. This would not remove the need for a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6c

Members considered the business plan for the delivery of adult services through Optalis in 2017-2018.

The Lead Member explained that the local authority trading company would become operational in just a few weeks. This was not outsourcing; the responsibilities of the Director and Lead Member remained the same. The workforce would operate from the same buildings and provide the same services. The new model would provide better career development and training and the ability to sell services to other local authorities, with profit flowing back for the benefit of residents. A business plan had been developed that set out the vision for the organisation, to ensure resident needs were met as early as possible by highly skilled professionals, and residents were given the opportunity to fulfil their potential. A total of £31.4m would transfer to Optalis therefore resources would be monitored at every stage. The Chairman suggested a case study be undertaken when the transaction closed, which would be of interest to central government and the LGA.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinetnotes the report and:

i)       Approves the Adult Services Business Plan for 2017-2018.

Members considered the business plan for the delivery of children’s services through Achieving for Children in 2017-2018, together with the improvement plan.

The Lead Member explained that the borough would be joining Achieving for Children (AfC) on 1 August 2018, the delay was due to the democratic processes of Kingston and Richmond. A soft launch would start on 3 April 2017 including joint working and the filling of vacancies to ensure a smooth transition. Kevin McDaniel would become Director of Children’s Services (DCS) on 3 April 2017. The Lead Member thanked Alison Alexander for her work as DCS over the last few years.

Members noted that learnings from the LGA Peer Review in late 2016 had been incorporated into the Action Plan and Business Plan. Consultation had been undertaken with Youth Ambassadors and Kickback on the plan; feedback had been positive. Youth Ambassadors were keen to be able to work with other Youth Councils and a suggestion had been made to develop a young person friendly version of the plan.

The Lead Member for Finance commented that if in six months the council had secured arrangements with other significant and highly capable local authorities to deliver the efficient and effective delivery of critical services the council would have taken a mammoth step. It was self evident that councils needed to collaborate with partners on the delivery of services; the old model could no longer meaningfully or cost effectively operate. The Royal Borough was clearly at the leading edge.

The Lead Member highlighted the action on page 121 to ensure all Members understood their role as a Corporate Parent. It was suggested that the Children in Care council be asked for their views on the statutory term ‘Corporate Parent' and then the council should write to the Secretary of State.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinetnotes the report and:

i)       Approves the Children’s Services Business Plan for 2017-2018 and accompanying improvement plan.

Members considered the purchase and operation of an additional non static library to provide greater access to library services for residents

The Lead Member explained there were two options:

·         A 30ft mobile van that held 2,500 books. The van was usually driven by the librarian and visited many sites during the day. Cost - £95,000.

·         A 40ft container library that was towed to site for at least one day, holding 4,000 books. £195,000.

The proposal would allow areas with limited access to library services to have greater access. It was hoped that resident services would also be included. The wards with greatest need were Sunningdale, Bray and Furze Platt. Following consultation, the library would be operational by the end of the year.

The Principal Member for Neighbourhood Planning and Ascot & the Sunnings commented she looked forward to the consultation.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinetnotes the report and:

i)             Delegates authority to the Interim Strategic Director of Operations and Customer Services and the Lead Member for Culture and Communities to carry out a consultation with residents, in the areas which currently have limited access to services and to purchase an additional mobile or container library facility, within the envelope of the already agreed £200,000 capital budget, in response to the consultation.

To consider passing the following resolution:-

“That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting whilst discussion takes place on items 8-9 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1-7 of part I of Schedule 12A of the Act"

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting whilst discussion took place on items 8-9 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1-7 of part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

To consider the Part II minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 23 February 2017